Earlier in the week we discussed growing issues facing the United States and its growing mass incarceration system. While some of us see it as new shift in the systemic oppression of minority groups, others seem to think the system works as it should and does indeed deter criminal activity.
Without a doubt, a whole thesis can be written on this topic and the alternatives to mass incarceration, but not here, not now. Instead, we will look to a case study of an organization I fell short on time to discuss in class -- El Sistema. Founded in 1975, this Venezuelan "social rescue" program has currently enrolled 300,000 children from the nation's lower and middle class. This group of people, much like in the United States, is often most endangered and vulnerable when looking at social and economic spheres.
El Sistema is a program that steps in to the urban communities, provides facilities, teachers, and instruments, and allows kids of all ages to develop their intellectual and emotional sides through classical music. As the students grow through the program, they acquire leadership roles and give back to the communities themselves, in the form of musical training. In a poverty-stricken community, these steps are important, yet often overlooked. Social welfare should not be limited to providing food or inexpensive housing. When you grow up in a city like Detroit, it can be easy to get the feeling of not being anyone. A city as empty as Detroit can have that impact on a young mind. In my opinion, El Sistema inspires a sense of discipline and the individual dedication that contributes to the collective whole of the ensemble. It is a community engagement in areas that otherwise have no sense of community at all.
Jose Antonio Abreu, the creator of El Sistema, describes his program as a series of "nuclei", or teaching locations, that take place in city centers and schools around the country. By the end of 2015, Abreu hopes to have half a million kids enrolled in the program. Furthermore, president Hugo Chavez pumps over sixty million dollars into the program and fuels its growth every year.
Not everyone has yet heard of El Sistema, but there have been a number of similar organizations influenced by Abreu's work that have developed their own copies of the system. The success of these projects is evident across many states and the impact is fairly huge. In California for instance, "100% of 2010's high school graduates participating in LA's Harmony Project went on to attend college. Each was the first in their family to attend."
Julian Webber, a writer for The Telegraph, attributes El Sistema's success to having "no boundaries of language, race or background." Borrowing from this point-of-view, is it worth exploring the potential benefits of making a program like El Sistema a part of U.S. domestic policy? I'm still learning a lot about the program myself, but as a musician, I agree that music demands collaboration between humans. I also believe that practice in music lends a hand to practice (or studying) in school. I like the idea that kids in Venezuela have the option of acquiring a talent, free of any debt, that can later help them succeed on their own terms, and can now help them stay out of trouble's way. I'm all for pushing a national campaign to get a public music program started in all economically and socially disadvantaged communities around the world. Genius method, studies show.
This blog post is fascinating, especially when contrasted with the picture we are given of Venezuela in the US media. The media presented the late Hugo Chavez as a dictatorial menace to the people. This was probably at least somewhat grounded in truth, with him eliminating term limits to extend his own time in office. Still, this is a great example of the good a socialist government can do, and an accomplishment that runs contrary to the US narrative around Chavez and co.
ReplyDeleteAs the wealth gap grows in the US, it's a trade off we have to consider as well. For a program like this to exist on a large scale, government intervention is a must. Without government help, these programs would run into the collective action problem. This is the reason government exists in the first place. It's a trade off we must make to have a more socially just solution for poverty than "throw them in jail". Seems worthwhile to me, but we must convince voters in general that a little bigger government is ok, given what we receive in return.
The case study that you reference in your blog is extremely interesting. I think one of the bigger problems we fixate on in regards to the prison problem is how do we continue to fund this ever growing population of inmates and should we be changing the system to match the person's crime. What is most often overlooked (and something that I too have skipped) is how do we keep people out of prison? How do we make sure that they don't get there? El Sistema seems like a terrific program that engages youth and gives them a skill that they can use to better their lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the need to initiate programs like this in disadvantaged communities in the United States. I feel like there should be an emphasis on the necessity to fund this type of project. If parents in these communities were to perhaps see the positive consequences of a music program, they could envision a better future for their child and take a more active role in making sure music is required at school. While I only played the piano for seven years, it was at one of the most crucial developmental periods of my life. Through elementary and middle school, I can say with confidence that music one of the main reasons I did well in school. It taught me discipline and work ethic, and it felt good to succeed in the musical world. This sense of achievement could only do good things in these struggling communities.